NASA’s 322-Ft Artemis 1 SLS Rocket Will Roll Out to the Launch Pad Soon; How to Watch Live

The launch of NASA's "giant moon rocket," the giant Space Launch System (SLS), will be live-streamed on Thursday.

SLS is NASA's next moon rocket, a project that has taken over ten years and cost more than $20 billion to construct.

It is a genuinely massive launch vehicle that, if operational, is intended to be the world's most powerful rocket.

Its first version, known as Block 1, will be capable of lifting more than 27 metric tons (59,500 pounds) into lunar orbits.

According to Newsweek, the rocket's deep space payload capacity will be increased to 46 metric tons (101,400 pounds) with future improvements in the Block 2 configuration.

NASA To Rollout Big SLS Moon Rocket In Florida Launch Pad

Before its maiden visit to the launch pad, NASA's 332-foot (98.1-meter) Moon rocket stands poised inside Kennedy Space Center's famous Vehicle Assembly Building.

SciNewsDaily said the Artemis I Moon-bound rocket, which is made up of NASA's SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft, is ready to roll to Launch Complex 39B on March 17 for its wet dress rehearsal test, which is set to commence on April 1.

The crew will demonstrate its ability to load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic, or super-cold, propellants into the rocket at the launch pad, practice every aspect of the launch countdown, and drain propellants to demonstrate safely standing down on a launch attempt during the dress rehearsal.

The test will mark the end of months of building and testing for the SLS and Orion spacecraft and launch control and engineering team preparations. It will pave the way for the maiden Artemis launch.

The uncrewed Artemis I mission is the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft's maiden launch together. People will be sent to work in lunar orbit and on the Moon's surface in the future.

NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon with the Artemis missions, establishing long-term exploration in preparation for missions to Mars.

NASA's backbone for deep space exploration is SLS and Orion and the commercial human landing system and the Gateway that will orbit the Moon.

How to Watch Rocket Rolling Out of Launch Pad

The NASA broadcast begins on Thursday, March 17 at 5 p.m. ET. Those fans may want to watch the coverage in the video player below or on NASA's YouTube account, broadcasting the same stream.

According to Digital Trends, the webcast will feature a lecture by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson as well as other speakers.

The rocket will travel four miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launchpad, which will take between six and 12 hours.

Starting at 4 p.m. ET, live, static camera views of the rocket's launch and arrival at the launch pad will be accessible on the Kennedy Newsroom YouTube channel.

Engineers will undertake a last prelaunch test known as a "wet dress rehearsal" shortly after NASA's SLS rocket arrives at the launchpad. This comprises filling the rocket's fuel tanks and launching the countdown.

NASA plans to utilize the rocket in a mission to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon by the end of the decade, in what will be the first crewed touchdown since the final Apollo mission in 1972.

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